miracles do happen! [ applause ] 60 years ago father alfred had a vision. it started with his compassion for those in need. the vision was and still is for those in need to come out of poverty, and to thrive. this vision since 1950 has been giving those in need the natural and the spiritual food that they need in order to thrive. i am now thriving because of the vision of father alfred. [ applause ] >> i came through st. anthony's through the father alfred center, the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and i was instilled with values

and morals that i was separated from through my drug use. after coming to the father alfred center they put me to work in the dining center. i was not easy work, but gratifying and i got to hear the people actually say thank you for the work i was doing, but remember a short time before that i was on the streets, smoking crack. and now, today, i am able to come here and to give back to a foundation that gave so much to me. [ applause ] the clinic helped gave me medical and make sure everything was working okay and i was fit and in top shape. the tech lab got me acquainted with computers and email and google and facebook. and all of those things that we

can't live without, right? social services got me back acquainted with getting my drivers' license back, because while i was on drugs i had lost my driver's license. and how many of you know that in california it's really hard to get around without a car? can i get a witness? >> amen. >> i know work for the city and county of san francisco. i work over at san francisco general hospital, in the dietary department. i have been there for almost three years. [ applause ] >> i will be graduating from the university of phoenix this year with a degree in criminal justice. and as barry has already told you i freelances an interpret. he said that the dead are not resurrected here. i stand here before you to let you know that the dead will be resurrected. because my life was over before

i came here and it has been resurrected all today. [ applause ] thank you very much for taking the time to listen to me. my name is tyrone and i'm under construction. god speed to you all. [ applause ] >> thank you, tyrone. whew. [ [ laughter ] >> it is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you today one of our volunteers.

this woman takes time etch year to volunteer with her children and grandchildren. she comes when she is not otherwise occupied, like leading those in congress. nancy pelosi is used to speaking before representatives. she has been doing it for 25 years and she comes before us, representatives of all of san francisco and points beyond. she is used to celebrating occasions when those who have been excluded have been welcomed to something new and exciting. she has done it for women coming into the halls of congress. she has done it for seniors moving into housing. she has done it for those with hiv/aids gathering at the memorial grove. i could go on and on, but i would much rather hear her speak, so please welcome leadership nancy pelosi. [ applause ]

>> thank you very much. thank you very much for your very generous introduction, barry and for your great leadership at the st. anthony foundation, for the invitation to be here today with such distinguished guests. how about tyrone? is he something? [ applause ] but it's an honor to be with you barry, with susan swift, with doug shu-maker and our distinguished mayor, mayor lee. last time i saw him he was on the platform while president obama was delivering the inaugural address. susan corette, thank you for decades of generousity and service to our community across the board. and father harden, who is president of the st. anthony's foundation. thank you for your leadership.

when barry talked about my bringing my children and grandchildren to serve meals over the years at st. anthony's dining room and others mentioned father alfred. i was remembering father floyd. [ applause ] i told my children when father floyd told me. a long time ago, i said father floyd, what makes you be able to do this over and over -- year in and year out? that you never burn out? that you have a constant source of enthusiasm for administering to the needs of people in need? he said when i was growing up, my parents told me that god loved poor people in a very special way. and so that we all must love them in a very special way. and that was his motivation and i believe the motivation of many of us gathered here today. i know it is of where you are

father? father from u.s. f? thank you for being here. i see so many of you in the audience who have been so magnificent in this and here we are. coming together in a partnership, in a partnership between mercy housing; now it's mercy housing because it's the sisters of mercy, but it's mercy housing because that is what it is. and that is what it means to the people who benefit from it. and this collaboration with st. anthony's. the coming together of two forces of such magnitude, of such commitment, of such deep commitment, of such values that you know that the outcome is going to be -- not only benefit the people who are here, but also be a model for

others. this is a collaboration, as has been said between mercy housing and st. anthony's and was example was non-profits come together for the greater good. with their leadership and their being models, producing results of national significance, they, most of them have been able to to impact public policy and i know the mayor is right on the forefront of all of this. and thank you for your great leadership, mayor lee. [ applause ] and you know that we just had a little session with the cliffs, going over the cliff, not going over the cliff. but one of the things that we were determined to protect in that debate was the new markets tax credit, something that has benefited some of these kinds of initiatives throughout the country. so whether it was long ago and the low-income

housing tax credit of which mercy housing has participated in over and over again and the new market tax credit, one of the current versions of the story. or the section 8 vouchers or the rest of that, public policy has played a role. but we can only be successful in achieving the funding for that public policy if we have examples of national significance to say this must be a priority. and it is a priority because mercy housing and st. anthony's makes people the priority. results. deeds, not just words. the words are important, but they are no substitute for making something happen from it. we all know the gospel of matthew and i was hungry, you gave me to eat and that is what st. anthony's has done. when you were homeless, you gave me shelter and that is mercy housing and they have come together. it's not just about food and

housing, but it's about dignity and stability and respect. respect for that spark of divinity that exists in every person, respect for the possibilities as tyrone has pointed out to us and for giving back. god bless you, tyrone for not only turning your life around, but for giving back. [ applause ] so father, we have been together on many occasions, like this and father is the president of usf and he knows that this city of st. francis has been a city. when they talk about san francisco values, i take it in the most complimentary way. the values of st. francis and

that is exactly what we are doing on this corner today, being channels of god's peace, giving love and light where it had not existed. but to thank each and every one of you for what you do. our mayor has been sort of the catalyst. he is where a lot of this comes together, public policy, private philanthropy and non-profit collaborations all works with the spark that makes it just ignite in a much bigger way. and he has been really a champion in that regard, not just as the mayor of this city, but long before that in his various capacities in leadership in our city. so we thank him for that leadership. because of each and every one of you sitting here, and most of all because of the vips

today, the vips, the people who will live here. they are the very important people today. [ applause ] because of those very important people, this is a very important day in san francisco. and i'm very honored to be part of the proceedings. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you so much leader pelosi for the kind words and sentiments that we all share of it's really an emotional thing to sit here withsome people caring so deeply about what happens on this site. it's a fabulous moment and thank you for bringing that together. it's my honor to introduce mayor lee, who i had the benefit of working for him for some time before he sent pe to the curb. [ laughter ] >> it's not really true, but it's a good story. the world

that i inhabit, the world of affordable housing, there is no better praise than to call someone a "houser." i don't know that we had a houser has mayor quite the way we have with mayor lee. for many of you, probably know this since the day he was in law school, representing tenants in chinatown, to make sure their living conditions were what they needed to be, he has been there from the very beginning and from the day and well before, no one had to explain to ed lee what affordable housing was for or why it mattered or what was important about it or why you needed to support it? so we have done something unbelievable in san francisco this past year under his leadership; which is despite the fact that the state has seen fit to remove literally a billion dollars in affordable housing funding from the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, no other mayor, no other board of supervisors stood up and said we're going to change the story. so with our board's leadership and with

the mayor's leadership and with the support of many donors and many committed political folks, we passed an unbelievable measure that will provide funding for affordable housing here in san francisco. it doesn't solve the problem, but it is a step way beyond what any other community in california has done. i want to thank the board and the mayor for their incredible leadership on this and invite up mayor ed lee. [ applause ] >> thank you, doug and thank you for your leadership at mercy housing. as you reconstruct your life. [ laughter ] anyway, let me first of all say it's a privilege to be with our board of supervisors, many of the members are here. our fire chief, our police chief, our homeless connectors, bevin, who has been on the streets and i will be out there with you tonight to do the

homeless count as we need to do to make sure we're doing our best to cover everyone. barry said earlier this is a lot of miracles happening and i will tell you this is the city of miracles, because we want those miracles to happen. we wish it to happen. lucille wouldn't be here without those miracles. [ applause ] world-class miracles, right? but there is a lot of challenges in our lives. and things that we're confronted with, but as doug kind of explained we got it together when we knew we were challenged. i think, i mean, i look at people, like leader pelosi, to give me the kind of personal incentive that i need to move things forward. because if you talk about someone who is fearless, you will go back to washington,

d.c.. i mean, here in our setting, we have a lovely time, thanking each other, but when you go to d.c., and you know what she has to face, you really appreciate her fearlessness. that cliff was real. the conversations are nasty. they are insensitive to our world of miracles here. we love and touch each other and we know what that feels. in d.c. it's hard to gain that with the conversations that they have there, but for her leadership, but for her connections but for her introductions to the federal agencies that we need so much their attention as they are stretched wide across this country with all of the needs, she has opened up those doors for me, for countless other mayors, for representatives of our different agencies to get that chance to present our case. so that our miracles can

happen for each other. so nancy, thank you very much for your wonderful, wonderful leadership. [ applause ] and then to come back here and celebrate with us on helping us turn the state on something that is going to happen that has been a miracle now, 38 million times for people in the last 60 years, father harden, that is just you and your staff. all of the volunteers, you know, the volunteers at the heart of the success of st. anthony's dining hall. [ applause ] >> i want to say that, because i have been at those kitchens. i have served meals. i know that it is tough to have people who are down and out in the worst times of their lives to be able to be introduced -- and we know it's more than a meal, but it gets started with a home-cooked meal. and then the hands come out and then the thoughts and hearts exchange and how can we help

you? and that has been, i think, the ingredients for more than just a great meal. it's an ingredients of life and how we celebrate it here. it is as leader pelosi said, it's our character of san francisco. and so it is also part to say not only do we add that with a new dining hall, but we add on top of that 90 units of affordable housing for our seniors. how wonderful can that be? [ applause ] that people in their years, when they are in need, the board of supervisors and the mayor's office and all of the volunteers working together to build consensus for the stories for more miracles in the city. and there is going to be more miracles to come. they are not just all in sports, by the way. [ laughter ] although by next week, we'll see another one. [ applause ] and when we do, leader pelosi

will have two kinds of crab cakes to choose from. [ laughter ] but also, besides leader pelosi has been a miracle worker, there is another miracle worker in our midst for another 30 year. the corette foundation i knew as a young attorney and filling the gaps where government couldn't make it happen. and we went to the corette foundation time and time again to ask for money to do housing advocacy, when we were doing education for tenants in public housing, the corette foundation was there. the last 30 years, the corette foundation has been there for the st. anthony's dining hall and in the last year, another

$1 million in contributions from the corette foundation to make sure this dining hall go its chance to be rebuilt. [ applause ] >> so st. anthony can increase their space by 42% in the land use and also build the housing. and while we are reminded there is still $2.5 million and i know we're going dig deep in our pockets to help get that done, because it will get done. miracles happen completely, not just partially. that i want to thank and recognize susan, because i know the transition from who we knew to be the face of the corette foundation happened years ago. she has picked it up with the greatest spirit, the greatest honor that can possibly be produced, the spirit of the corette foundation lives today through susan and her con stant donations. she was one of the very first when i was interim mayor and i

said i need some of the philanthropic aid and i talked to william helman and what he did and with the fischers and sorensteins and all the great families that were part of our history and i want to create the next generation of philanthropic san francisco-loving people that we can continue the miracles for everybody. susan has been at that part of our philanthropic san francisco lovefest for many years and with that i would like to introduce susan corette, the corette foundation, the great miracle worker. [ applause ]

this is wonderful. this is really exciting. it's really important to introduce the koret foundation family. first of all our executive director mr. jeff, would you stand up please. [ applause ] . hiram, also. and then the next to you, that beautiful lady, gabrielle and my niece, kim. [ applause ] thank you. good afternoon. thank you for the opportunity to participate in this great milestone. i am happy to be here.

st. anthony's has a special place in my heart, because it represents the vision of my late husband, joseph koret. joe was born in poverty. he -- his wish was for no one to go hungry in his beloved san francisco community. joe would have been so proud to support this wonderful building that will provide so much care for so many people in our city. for me, st. anthony's also represents the three c's. care, community, and continuity.

i bring you many congratulations from all of the members of the board of directors of the koret foundation and our very best wishes for continued sucrose in -- success in the future. thank you. [ applause ] >> i saw merl and larry, if you want to join us. as we said, this building is complex. and it starts with the funding. it will get more complicated with the construction pretty soon, but it has really been an unbelievable group effort to pull together the different funders of this work. we heard about the koret's foundation amazing con tributionss and i know there have been so many amazing

contributions on the st. anthony side. for an affordable housing project for this it takes incredible people and we start with hud, who supplied over $20 million to make this project possible. larry ferguson is here, the director of the hud 202 programs that gets the senior housing funds and an important thing to know about the hud 202 programs not only do they provide capital, but a rental subsidy. so seniors on social security, or even less income don't have to worry about whether they can make a $1,000 rent payment. they pay 30% of whatever they can pay and the federal government helps us make up the difference, so we can keep people housed. there are folks out there who understand why this is not such a great investment. so i want to take one second to tell you about this. we know there that we can save

money to medicare and medicaid by housing seniors in this setting. so it's an unbelievable investment and one that i hope we'll keep on doing. [ applause ] i don't have time to thank you everybody at hud, but without your commitment to make these things real we couldn't get them done. we thanked the mayor, but the mayor's staff at the mayor's office of housing, one of the humblest public servants you will ever meet -- olson has been doing this i think since 1906. [ laughter ] olson has been doing this forever. and along with a lot of other people in the city, we not have the history of affordable housing in san francisco without olson lee. he has been tireless. he worked harder to make this happen than anyone that i know

and committed than any human being i have met. i want to thank olson and the rest of the mayor's office of housing and the staff for their work on this sfwater. [ effort. >> [ applause ] >> again in the obscure world of affordable housing, leadership pelosi has been a huge champion with senator feinstein in preserving the program. we know we have a huge champion in you as we look at tax reform, we're confident that you will be with us on that issue. we get investors to buy the tax credits and that helps to pay for the building. it's a very complicated

transaction and todd is here representing the foundation. they have brought in equity investment of over $1.2 billion. to give you a sense of how important they are and how important the program is. thank you. [ applause ] you know in san francisco, everything is green, but liz helps us go greener. and so they have provided an important pre-development grant to help us understand how to green this project and make them the most environmentally sustainability program. they are a huge partner with us nationally and with all the communities and the work that they do across the country. so thank you stephanie and liz. [ applause ] we have two different banking partners on this project that

have combined to lend over $22 million to the construction loan on this project. citibank and silicon valley bank. merl is around. former mercy employee, also wonderful human being. merl is also hiding in the background because he is also humble. these two banks have been huge up the supporters of affordable housing over the years. [ applause ] silicon valley bank i think we want to mention also the silicon valley bank has been instrumental in helping us secure affordable housing program grant for this project from the federal home loan bank system and thank the federal home loan bank and anita adams and her staff and still con valley bank for making that possible. it's a huge grant and a huge part of closing the gap. so thank you.